The Hunger Project’s Executive VP, John Coonrod, has moved from New York City to Washington, DC to strengthen THP’s seat at the table of international development. Each week, John sends us insight into issues of health, policy, human rights and more by way of the Washington Weekly.
Strategic Objectives in South Asia
My recent visit with colleagues in India and Bangladesh was very good, and I feel we’ve made a lot of progress – specifically in the area of partnership development.
In Bangladesh, a group of THP Women Leaders in one district is currently receiving training on how to deliver key social messaging for the Essential Nutrition Actions (pdf) program for a USAID-funded SPRING program.
In India, we discussed the findings of extensive field visits during May in Madhya Pradesh and Northern Karnataka to study the obstacles to addressing 1,000 Days nutrition more in depth. The staff is highly committed to taking on this challenge.
The plan in India is to pilot a three-prong strategy focusing on (1) awareness building (2) strengthening village maternal and child health programs (anganwadis) and (3) empowering panchayats (local councils) to establish partnerships with local groups expert in rural livelihoods.
Other discussions during the visits included improvements to our Monitoring and Evaluation systems, and plans for this year’s campaigns for this year’s 16 Days to Halt Violence Against Women.
And, as I was flying from Delhi to Dhaka, our India Senior Program Officer, Ruchi Yadav (pictured), flew to the U.S. to begin her semester as a Yale World Fellow. Congratulations Ruchi!
Upcoming events
September TBD – Secretary Clinton will host an event during the UN General Assembly on the role of civil society
September 27 – Meeting of the Scaling Up Nutrition (SUN) Lead Group during the UN General Assembly
September 30 – The original National Girl Child Day co-founded by THP-Bangladesh, now incorporated into the official UN International Day of the Girl Child
October 11 – International Day of the Girl Child
October 13 – THP Annual Fall Gala on the occasion of our 35th anniversary – Making the Vision Real
October 16 – World Food Day
October 17 – International Day for the Eradication of Poverty
October 17-19 – Borlaug Dialogue as a part of the World Food Prize
November 25-December 10 – 16 Days Against Gender Violence
